Why They Work
by unbrokensaviorwithperfecthair
Summary: The only reason Thirteen and Kutner work is because they're complete opposites. And they're grateful for that.
1. Reasons

_**THE REASON I'M WRITING ANOTHER STORY WHEN I HAVE OTHERS TO FINISH? WELL, I JUST FEEL LIKE IT. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME DOING THUTNER, SO I'M TRYING. ADVICE IS ALWAYS APPRECIATED! PLEASE REVIEW.**_

_**DON'T OWN HOUSE OR THE CHARACTERS.**_

_It was weird the way it seemed so right. They both knew it was wrong; they were colleagues. In both their opinions, if you worked together, you didn't sleep together. Except for that opinion, they were polar opposites. But for some reason, it just made sense_.

Kutner wasn't going to die, but he wanted to die. Thirteen was going to die, but she wanted to live. Kutner was goofy, Thirteen was professional. Kutner was straight, Thirteen was bi. When something bothered Kutner, he let people know. When something bothered Thirteen, she made it a point not to let it show. In every aspect of their lives, they were different.

And maybe that's why they go so well together. They didn't get each other at all. Kutner couldn't figure out how Thirteen was so unemotional. Thirteen couldn't figure out how Kutner could so easily let House get the satisfaction of knowing he had succeeded in hurting him. Kutner didn't know how Thirteen could let her opinions be so known, could yell and scream at House when she knew she was right. For the life of her (and she'd really try), Thirteen just couldn't understand how Kutner could stand by and let himself get walked all over. That's why it worked, though.

During a stressful day, Kutner would say how he felt at work. That was just how he worked. At the end of a stressful day, in the privacy of their apartment, Thirteen could talk, could let go. She didn't have to pretend that she was perfectly fine.

The reason they could do that was all thanks to one night.

**IS IT OK? I TRIED TO GET THEM AS IN CHARACTER AS POSSIBLE, BUT LIKE I SAID, THIS IS MY FIRST THUTNER, AND THIRD HOUSE. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! ****J**


	2. A Conversation

**HELLO, MY LITTLE DUCKLINGS! HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER (BECAUSE I ENJOY WRITING IT)**

**DON'T OWN IT.**

That night that brought them together wasn't a typical day.

It had been a hard day for everyone. No one could deny it, not even House. Each of the doctors could, in some way, relate to the patient. In the end, though, everyone knew that Thirteen could the most. The patient was, in a word, confusing. At first, everyone thought that he was just an idiot (as House had so lightly put it), but Thirteen recognized that he didn't have an IQ of 50, he was just delirious. After testing (because she had pushed it), they confirmed it. He then became paralyzed. After 18 hours, he had died. During the whole ordeal, Kutner could only think of Thirteen. Sure, he knew everyone else was hurting. The patient had been abused (House), his parents hated him (Chase), his brother was a druggie (Foreman), and the patient was adopted (Kutner). The kicker was that the patient was dying, and he just _had_ to become paralyzed which, of course, reminded Thirteen of her disease. She denied (as she always did), and pretended it didn't bother her. Kutner couldn't understand how she was so… _okay_. He knew he was bothered, and even House seemed not himself. So _surely_, despite how much she denied it, he saw through the façade. That's why he did the suicidal act of checking on her at 7:30 that night at her house.

When she opened the door, she was ready to kill someone. She figured it was House (he always had the knack of making an entrance at the worst possible time), and pretended she was angry (which she didn't have to pretend that much). Couldn't they leave her alone? She had been contemplating letting herself cry (she hadn't cried since her mother died when she was 12), but wasn't sure she wanted to break her 16 year streak. She didn't have a choice considering someone was at her doorstep. Sighing, she opened the door. Her expression softened slightly when she saw it was Kutner. She knew he wouldn't mean to make her angry.

"Hi." She said, still angry that he'd bother her.

"Um… Hi." He said, smiling goofily.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"I was just- uh, I wanted to talk." He said. Thirteen resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of _course_ he wanted to talk.

"Come in." She sighed, opening the door wider and walking over to the couch.

"Sorry to bother you…" Kutner said awkwardly. He took a brief glance around. Surprisingly, her place wasn't as much of a mess as he thought it would be.

"You want anything?" She asked, popping herself a bottle of beer.

"No, thanks. So um, pretty weird day, huh?" He asked.

"You can get over the awkwardness. It's just me." Thirteen said.

"I know it's just…" Kutner shrugged, not really sure how to word it.

"I get it. I can be a pain at work, and you don't want to p*ss me off. I get it. But really, despite how I act at work, I'm not that bad." Thirteen said, leaning back into her plush sofa.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't see that." Kutner said, smiling at the thought of a relaxed Thirteen who used her given name (which he still didn't know). A woman who was openly scared, openly happy, and just open in general. He really couldn't see that at all.

"How so?" She asked, taking a swig of her beer.

"I don't know you're just so… It's hard to explain. You just don't seem like the type of person who would ever let her walls come down. I don't know, it really is hard to explain. You're just so tough at work, I can't see you being any different." Kutner explained, then realization hit him. He didn't _want_ her to be any different. She was perfect the way she was.

"You're right. I just actually make jokes when I'm not at work, and not as sarcastic." She said, getting up to throw her beer away.

"I could maybe see that." Kutner said, mulling it over.

"What about you?" Thirteen asked, turning to face him.

"Me?" Kutner laughed, "Oh, what you see is what you get." Kutner said, ignoring the guilt he felt about lying to her. Yes, he was an open book, yes, he was a geek, and yes, he was always walked on, but he wasn't happy, not nearly as happy as everyone thought.

"I don't believe that." She said. She was getting thoughts that she shouldn't be having about Kutner from the alcohol. _Why did I have that beer? I'm such an idiot_, Thirteen thought.

"Well, it's the truth." Kutner said.

"Now see, I can see you being just he way you are at work at home." Thirteen said.

"Good, you believe me. That was a pretty tough case, huh?" Kutner asked after a moment, getting to the conversation he really wanted to have.

"I didn't think it was that bad." She said, realizing what he was doing. For the past couple of minutes, Kutner's presence, and the topic of their conversation, had distracted her from her internal debate, and now the topic had brought back those thoughts. She was going to get really angry in about 30 seconds if he brought her into this.

"I did. I don't know how James could've just let people make fun of him for being adopted." Kutner explained.

"Yeah, me neither." Thirteen said.

"It must've stunk for you cause he, you know, was paralyzed then died." Kutner said.

"We were talking about you." Thirteen said, getting defensive. There was no way she was going to let him see her vulnerable; she worked way too hard to make everyone think that she was tough and indestructible. That was how she intended on keeping it.

"Well, I don't want to talk about me." Kutner said.

"Well, I don't want to talk about me, either." Thirteen said, crossing her arms.

**PLEASE REVIEW****J**


End file.
